Jason Robert Brown is one of the most well-respected composers working in musical theatre today. His credits include Songs for a New World, The Last Five Years and Parade (my personal favourite musical). In 2007, he premiered a show called 13, a musical written for a cast consisting completely of, as the name suggests, 13-year-olds. […]
Boy does this play keep you gripped. Partly a detective noir drama, partly a psychological thriller, partly an exploration of the human mind, City of Glass is filled with so many twists and turns that it keeps you guessing long after you’ve left its home at the Lyric. With innovative effects and an array of […]
There’s not anything groundbreaking or spectacular in this production of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying at Wilton’s Music Hall. Neither is there anything particularly problematic or dull. It’s very much an ok production, of an ok show. No more, no less. Describing a show as “ok” seems a little insulting, but that’s […]
Virtual reality is one of those things that most of us are aware of, but for many (me included), its uses don’t appear to extend much beyond teenage boys wearing a headset and playing the latest video game. In Lindsey Ferrentino’s new play, the technology is presented as an antidote to physical pain, specifically the […]
Joseph Moncure March’s initially controversial poem, The Wild Party, is subject to possibly one of the biggest coincidences in musical theatre history. Back in the 1999/2000 Broadway season, two totally separate musicals emerged, both using the exact same source material for their narrative—even more peculiar given the poem isn’t exactly the most obvious source material […]
There will be few unfamiliar with J.B. Priestley’s most famous piece, An Inspector Calls, and in this latest version director Stephen Daldry extracts the richness of the text to produce a gripping and intense romp and, while it has its ostentatious moments, is a respectfully solid revival of a play that continues to entertain seventy […]
A solid revival of a fringe theatre classic, this latest production of The Last Five Years embraces the personal lyrics and blissful melodies and provides a raw and touching take of a modern love story. A semi-autobiographical piece from Jason Robert Brown, this sung-through musical tracks the relationship between a young aspiring actress, Cathy, and […]
A uniquely bizarre story, Side Show follows the life of conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton as they are saved from their tortured life performing as ‘freaks’ in a Texan sideshow and propelled into stardom as the hottest act on the opium circuit. The musical, which first premiered on Broadway in 1997, has a rather […]